Stephen Joseph, India
Raised in India where employment and food were scarce, Stephen Joseph went against his father’s will accepted a call into full-time ministry. After a motorcycle accident that should have killed him left him without a scar, he knew that God had a purpose for his life. A deep heart for the Indian nation, Stephen has spent his time at Asbury learning to translate the message of Christ to his unique culture, so that he can return and empower them to “extend God’s kingdom throughout the world.”
Through a series of God-ordained events, Stephen is now participating in Asbury Seminary’s Beeson International Leaders Program—one of the most prestige pastoral leadership and preaching programs in the world. When asked where he is from, Stephen used to say, “I am from all over. I am just Indian. I am just Christian. My passion has always been to be an Indian Christian,” but this program has given him and even broader view: “I am proud to say that I am a world Christian. As John Wesley said, ‘The world is my Parish,’ and now it is mine too.”
Stephen currently serves as the president of a seminary, oversees over 350 churches and helps take care of over 16 orphan children. After completing this program, Stephen hopes to return to India to continue training believers and promoting basic theological education among lay-pastors.
At 12, Stephen’s dad threw him out on the street, telling him that he was “unfit to fix the tire of a bicycle,” but by the grace of God, Stephen will be used to fix much more than that as he sets out to “make others fit for the kingdom of God and service of the Lord.”
